Bonds, Clemens rejected; no one elected to baseball Hall of Fame

Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Mike Piazza could dominate the game, though they barely could get to first base with the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.

A thorough rejection of Bonds and Clemens by the Hall of Fame electorate not only cast a serious doubt about their ever making it to Cooperstown, but it also could impede the path for those untainted by the so-called steroid era.

A ballot stocked with worthy Cooperstown candidates is only going to grow, with the likes of Greg Maddux, Frank Thomas, Tom Glavine, Jeff Kent and Mike Mussina eligible for consideration next time.

Talk about a crowded house.

When the 2013 vote was revealed Wednesday, not one player had earned the requisite 75 percent for election by the BBWAA — a body charged with sorting through a ballot with more marquee names linked to suspicion or use of performance-enhancing drugs.

Pittsburgh-based national baseball writer John Perrotto was among those who were not surprised by the poor showing of Clemens (37.6 percent) and Bonds (36.2) in their first appearance on the ballot.

“It seemed there was a strong tone against anyone connected with PEDs, so I fully expected both to be under 50 percent,” Perrotto said. “I thought they might be as low as 20-25 percent.”

Steroid-linked slugger Sammy Sosa fared even worse on his first try with 12.5 percent. But that was better than Rafael Palmeiro, once suspended due to a failed PED test, who received 8.8 percent in his third year eligible.

Biggio’s 3,060 career hits were untouched by any whiff of PEDs, though mere suspicion of such use has impacted Bagwell and Piazza, who made his ballot debut.

Yet, the steroid links to the seven-time MVP Bonds and the seven-time Cy Young Award-winning Clemens overwhelmed this election, turning it into a national referendum.

“After what has been written and said over the last few years I’m not overly surprised,” Clemens said of the results via Twitter.

In a statement, Players Association chief Michael Weiner chastised BBWAA voters for failing to elect anyone to the Hall of Fame, calling it “unfortunate, if not sad.”

Weiner further said that “to ignore the historic accomplishments of Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, for example, is hard to justify.”

Baseball’s all-time home run king with 762, Bonds denied knowingly using steroids and was convicted of one count of obstruction to a grand jury investigating steroid use in baseball. Clemens recently was acquitted of perjury charges related to a federal hearing in which he denied using PEDs.

“To penalize players exonerated in legal proceedings — and others never even implicated — is simply unfair,” Weiner said in part. “The Hall of Fame is supposed to be for the best players to have ever played the game. Several such players were denied access to the Hall [on Wednesday].”

Still, the guardians of the game expressed faith in the process.

“We hope in the not too distant future that Mike Piazza will take his rightful place in the Baseball Hall of Fame,” Mets COO Jeff Wilpon said in a statement. “The statistics he compiled during his career as a catcher were unmatched by anyone in the history of the game. We are optimistic one day soon Mike’s plaque, with a Mets cap, will be hanging in Cooperstown where it truly belongs.”

“I respect the writers as well as the Hall itself,” commissioner Bud Selig told the Associated Press. “This idea that this [vote] somehow diminishes the Hall of baseball is just ridiculous in my opinion.”

It was only the eighth time since the Hall’s inception in 1936 that the BBWAA failed to elect a candidate, and the first time since 1996.

Only 10 players may be voted on per ballot, though, “I don’t know if expanding it beyond 10 means that more people get into the Hall of Fame,” said Jack O’Connell, BBWAA secretary-treasurer, adding that 78 percent of the latest ballots cast had fewer than 10 players listed.

“Nobody in Cooperstown was rooting for a shutout,” said Hall of Fame president Jeff Idelson. “But we have great respect for the process.”